Humorous fantasy novel, 34th in the popular, pun-filled “Xanth” series, following Jumper Cable (2009).
• This one is about Wenda Woodwife, who seeks help from Good Magician Humphrey while her husband, Prince Charming, is off on Adventure.
• Tor’s website has this description of the book.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function includes an excerpt.
• The 35th Xanth novel, Well-Tempered Clavicle, was scheduled for this month but has been pushed out to November 22nd.

Young adult SF novel about a teenage boy, Nailer, who works as a ship scavenger on the Gulf Coast.
• The publisher’s site has this description with an “OpenBook” function providing an excerpt.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviewed it last year in Locus Magazine: “Ship Breaker is not merely another entry in the growing subgenre of dystopian YA, but a genuinely uncompromising cautionary tale which, if it reaches the young readers it should, may leave them with some actual ideas.”
• The novel was a National Book Award nominee and won an American Library Award. It also won a Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel.

SF novel about an amnesiac man who wakes from hibernation aboard an interstellar starship in mid-voyage.
• The author’s website has this description with a link to an excerpt and trailer on Orbit’s site.
• Gary K. Wolfe’s review from the November 2010 issue of Locus Magazine is posted here; Wolfe writes “The main strength of Hull Zero Three, at least for veteran hard SF readers, lies in the ingenious manner in which Bear has constructed these through-the-looking-glass puzzles, and in which he eventually unpacks them…”

Science fiction novel, sequel to Jupiter (2000), in which physicist Grant Archer returns to Jupiter, intent on proving the gigantic creatures he discovered there on an earlier expedition are intelligent.
• Tor’s site has this description with an excerpt.
• Amazon has the Publishers Weekly review, which concludes “Bova is at his best writing about the leviathans and their perceptions. The human motivations and emotions (particularly romance) seem more shoe-horned in, with the exception of Archer’s engaging scientific passion.”

SF novel, latest in the long-running series about Miles Vorkosigan — 14th, counting only full-length novels (and based on the list in Wikipedia’s Vorkosigan Saga entry).
• In this book Miles deals with a cryogenic firm on the planet Kibou-daini.
• Baen’s site has this description with links to several chapters.
• Carolyn Cushman reviewed it last year for Locus Magazine: “This is a pretty typical outing for Miles at this point — more mystery/thriller than military SF — and a fun read.”
• The novel was a Hugo Award finalist.

Young adult novel, first of a trilogy, about a boy, Rigg, who discovers he has the power not only to see the past, but to change it.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a chapter 1 excerpt.
• Amazon has several dozen mostly positive reviews.
• The next volume, Ruins, is now scheduled for March 2012.

Far future SF novel, conclusion of a trilogy following The Dreaming Void (2008) and The Temporal Void (2009), about humanity’s quest for transcendence inside a black hole Void at the center of the galaxy.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a preview function.
• The author’s website includes a description and an excerpt.
• The Publishers Weekly review said “Dense and dazzling with complex story lines, compelling characters, and universe-spanning drama, Hamilton’s latest offering is a satisfying conclusion to the Void trilogy… With intimate storytelling threads woven through a grand tapestry of epic adventure, the tale will be a struggle for new readers, but will captivate returning fans who can dive right in.”

Fantasy novel, 13th volume in Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series, completed by Sanderson after Jordan’s death. It’s the second of three books that will conclude the series, following The Gathering Storm (2009). The third volume is not yet scheduled.
• Tor’s site has this description, with a video and an audio excerpt.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function includes an excerpt.
• Amazon has over 400 reader reviews, of which over 250 rate it 5 stars.

SF novel, second volume in the “Collegium Chronicles” following Foundation (2008), set early in history of Valdemar.
• The publisher’s site has this description.
• Amazon’s “Look Inside” function provides a preview.

SF novel set in 2027 Istanbul, concerning terrorism and nanotech in the interconnected lives of six characters over a period of five days.
• Pyr’s website has this description.
• Gary K. Wolfe’s review last year in Locus Magazine, grouping this novel with McDonald’s River of Gods and Brasyl, said they are an “impressive series of near-future tech revolutions in large-scale developing economies like India, Brazil, [and] now Turkey.” Wolfe commented, “The near-future settings lend these novels a considerable sense of immediacy, but also show that McDonald shares the classic hard-SF optimism about how quickly the revolution will arrive. … [That] McDonald manages to pack all these characters, complete with complex backstories, into a moderate-size novel already dense with political and economic ideas, genuinely compelling SF inventions, and at least one Sax Rohmer subplot involving ancient legends, Islamic mysticism, and subterranean chambers, is something of a marvel.”
• The novel was a Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke award finalist, and it won the British Science Fiction Association Award.

Yound adult fantasy novel, fourth and concluding volume in the series about Tiffany Aching and set in the Discworld universe, following The Wee Free Men (2003), A Hat Full of Sky (2004), and Wintersmith (2006), and 38th novel overall in the Discworld series.
• In this book Tiffany pursues the source of evil against the witches.
• The publisher’s site has this description with a preview function.
• Faren Miller reviewed it last year in Locus Magazine: “Even Shakespeare had his clowns and Fools, sometimes near the center of things, and though Sir Terry’s not the Bard he continues to be one of the most interesting Big Names in fantasy — not content to repeat himself endlessly or to rest upon his laurels.”
• The 39th Discworld novel, Snuff, has just been published in hardcover.

Note: beginning August 2011, Monitor listings are based on publisher schedules and availability on Amazon, rather than on confirmation of physical publication (i.e. via purchase, review copies, or sightings in bookstores). As before, titles are listed only once they are published; we do not list galleys or advance reading copies.

Locus Online will endeavor to list all significant titles from the principal SF/F and mainstream publishers (omitting for the most part YA, horror, media and gaming ties, and self-published books). Publishers are welcome to alert Locus Online of scheduled titles, but such notice does not guarantee listings; and again, galleys and ARCs are discouraged.

* = first edition
+ = first US edition

Date with publisher info is official publication month.

‘Nominal Publication Date’ is the day of publication, typically as indicated by Amazon.com.

If physical copies have been seen or received, that date is given following the book description.

Although I haven’t read any reviews of the film, I suspect that Wes Ball’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure (simply entitled The Death Cure in the opening credits) will be praised, or condemned, as a routine action film, with a series of exciting, well-executed sequences pitting likable protagonists against impossible odds, stitched together by quieter scenes to advance its plot and develop the characters. In sum, if you like the

Past Features

As part of the current series on SF In (and Out) of Translation, I asked the Roundtable to talk about some of their favorite international sf authors. As always, this discussion is broken up into multiple pages for ease of reading. If you’d like to read it all on a single page, select ‘View All’ from the drop down menu above. If you don’t see the drop down menu, please

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